Trump picks Sen. Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State

Political implications of new Rubio appointment

FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports on the many implications that Sen. Marco Rubio's State Department appointment brings to Florida.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Florida's senior senator is getting a promotion. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State.

The conservative lawmaker is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate this summer.

On Capitol Hill, Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has pushed for taking a harder line against China and has targeted social media app TikTok, because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers contend that Beijing could demand access to the data of users whenever it wants.

"He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries," Trump said of Rubio in a statement.

Now that Trump has made the official nomination, it's time for Governor Ron DeSantis to begin his own sweepstakes, as it will be up to him to select Rubio's successor. Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody and his own chief of staff, James Uthmeier, are all possibilities.

READ: Trump cabinet selections: See the latest nominations

"I think the governor will look at is that person's ability to build coalitions," said Former Sen. George LeMieux (R-Florida.)

LeMieux was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009 by Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, but only served until Crist ran for the seat.

"There are no guarantees and there's not going to be any kind of agreement, I don't believe, between whomever gets selected and the governor," Lemieux said.

Some political analysts argue the two questions are whether DeSantis wants a placeholder if he plans to run for the seat one day, or whether he wants to use the appointment to please the president-elect, whose good graces he must have if he hopes to run for president in 2028.

"If he crosses Donald Trump with this appointment, it makes it harder in 2028 for Ron DeSantis to unify the Trump faction of the party, which is the vast majority now," said Former Rep. David Jolly.

And now, there are public calls, including from Rep. Anna Paulina-Luna, for the governor to select Lara Trump, the president-elect's daughter-in-law. Others argue the governor is more likely to pick a closer ally, like Former State Rep. Jose Oliva, a former state house speaker, or Moody, or Uthmeier.

If he picks someone in the cabinet, like Moody, he could then make another appointment to replace her, giving him even more power to set the state's agenda.

"I don't think anybody pushes around Ron DeSantis," said Republican strategist Anthony Pedicini. "There were people that had written him off for dead after the presidential and now look who gets to pick the U.S. senator from Florida."

Even though Rubio's term goes to 2028, whoever the governor appoints would only hold the seat until 2026, when a special election would be held that November. Coincidentally, that is when DeSantis' term as governor is up.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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